Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman was on ESPN radio earlier this morning and discussed an extensive amount of topics from the $189 Million payroll for next season to everyone’s favorite third baseman, Alex Rodriguez. About the $189 Million, Cashman reiterated everything he said and Hal Steinbrenner said last week.

However, something that did pique my interest was what Cashman said about A-Rod. The question was if he wanted Rodriguez on the field next season and if A-Rod was the Yankees best option at third base, so of course Cashman gave an intellectual and insightful answer.

“There are a lot of layers to that question,” Cashman said. “It comes down to, ‘Would we want the player we signed to be playing that position without any problems?’ Absolutely. No question about it. If people think there is some sort of benefit by losing that talent … You can’t replace it. It is not like, Alex is gone and he winds up getting suspended and it is upheld, how do you replace that, it is not easy. It is not like we will take that money and go in this direction. You saw this year — our fan base saw — when we lost significant players at various positions, it was not easy to plug holes. The talent just doesn’t exist. It is not like going down to a Home Depot and pulling something out that you need that broke that you have to fix it. Ultimately, from a baseball operations standpoint, taking out all the areas of controversy, having Alex Rodriguez man third base is obviously, by far the best option for the Yankees than what the alternatives would be, in theory. We’ll have to wait and see if we have to look for alternatives or not.”

Rodriguez is supposed to continue his hearing this Wednesday. If the hearing ends this week, then the Yankees should know by Thanksgiving if they need to look in the market for a new third baseman in 2014.

What baffles me is that Cashman and the Yankees organization always seem to butt heads with A-Rod, it sometimes makes it look like they don't want him on the team and they'd be thrilled that he's off the team due to suspension–then all of a sudden they come out and say they can't replace him. Love/Hate relationship between the Yanks and A-Rod perhaps?